Not all Taco Bells are created equal.
At the 87 Taco Bell locations throughout New York City, menu items can sometimes double in price from franchisee to franchisee. That’s why an influencer named Yuval set out to compare the prices of every single Taco Bell location in the city, charting the cost of individual menu items as well as the average price point for a given store.
Yuval presented his results in a viral TikTok that shows New Yorkers how to live mas for less.
The Bell of the ball
To find the cheapest Taco Bell in NYC, Yuval analyzed the costs of best-selling menu items, then ranked the locations based on how their prices compare to other Taco Bells on average.
According to Yuval’s map, one location stands out above the rest for cheap eats: the Jackson Heights Taco Bell. That one restaurant is home to the cheapest Crunchwrap Supreme ($5.19), Beefy 5-Layer Burrito ($4.09), Chalupa Supreme ($4.49), Cheesy Gordita Crunch ($4.99), Chicken Quesadilla ($5.69), and Nachos BellGrande ($5.89) in the city.
But Jackson Heights is outranked on a few best-selling menu items. There’s the Build Your Own Luxe Cravings Box, which goes for $8.00 in Jackson Heights, compared to the five Taco Bells on Staten Island that offer it for $7.29.
There’s also the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, which costs just $1.49 at Taco Bells in Midtown, Hell’s Kitchen, Flushing, and Corona. Flushing and Corona are also home to the cheapest Crunch and Soft Tacos in the city at $2.19 each.
For the cheapest possible Spicy Potato Soft Taco, you’ll have to head to Chelsea, where it costs just $1.29.
When it comes to dessert, several Manhattan locations offer Cinnamon Twists for only a dollar. That includes three Taco Bells on the Upper East Side, two in the East Village, one in Greenwich Village, and one on the Upper West Side—locations that, strangely enough, rank among the most expensive for other menu items, including a $14.99 price point for the Luxe Cravings Box, more than double the cheapest rate elsewhere in the city.
If you don’t live in Queens and don’t want to make the trek to Jackson Heights, these are the cheapest locations on average in every other borough, according to the map:
- Manhattan: Inwood and Hell’s Kitchen
- Brooklyn: Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick
- The Bronx: Fordham, University Heights, Mount Hope, and Concourse
- Staten Island: New Dorp and New Springville
Not in NYC? Never fear: Taco Bell enthusiasts outside of the city can get a sense of relative price by checking out taconomical.com, a heat map comparing Taco Bell prices across America—though it hasn’t been updated since 2023.
Why the price differences?
Amid thanking Yuval for his boots-on-the-ground journalism, many folks in his comments section were dumbfounded to learn that prices could vary so widely within a single fast food chain. “America is not real 😭,” reads one comment. “[What do you mean] they allow them to change prices, let alone in the same city.”
“The prices at a franchise should be the same at least across an entire country for the same item. This is ridiculous,” reads another.
For its part, Taco Bell keeps its commentary to a minimum. While Taco Bell didn’t respond to Fast Company’s request for comment, it does address the question “Why is pricing different at some Taco Bell locations?” on the brand’s FAQ page, albeit briefly. The answer simply reads, “Price and participation vary,” then encourages customers to reach out to their local restaurants for specifics.